Z4 + Snow
- Thread starter frankiefish
- Start date
Done about 100miles today in the Zed, including going to some icy/snowy country sides. Granted its not too bad in NW compared to down south but Zed handled better then expected. Not having a flat tire helps too :lol:
Did have to use 3rd gear quite often to even start moving though! The manual also says I can temporarily switch of the traction control to give more torque in the snow/ice. Has anyone tried it?
Did have to use 3rd gear quite often to even start moving though! The manual also says I can temporarily switch of the traction control to give more torque in the snow/ice. Has anyone tried it?
RX-78 said:
Turned mine of quite a lot... just to get out of tight spots where I needed to let the wheels spin a little! On most of the time when driving. I was following advice from the start of this post
I must give it a go in my work car park - do you just press that button you press to reset the tire pressure sensor? Apparantly if they grit the car park (privately) they are liable for any accidents, so they dont. Consequently its a real ice link 
Said to the missus if we moved to the country side, we may have to invest in 4x4 as I cant afford to be off work (curse of self employment!). But I'm refusing to loose my Zed though
Said to the missus if we moved to the country side, we may have to invest in 4x4 as I cant afford to be off work (curse of self employment!). But I'm refusing to loose my Zed though
RX-78... it's the button next to the tyre sensor - DSC I think it's labelled. When you push it once, I think you need to be stopped, a warning light comes on - DTC (again IIRC). Away you go... or not. When you're in the car that should make more sense. It's a single push again to turn it back on. Check the manual - there is another sequence to turn the next stage off.
Other thing that's helped... I keep a cloth dust sheet in the boot - I put that down on ice and it worked wonders!
Other thing that's helped... I keep a cloth dust sheet in the boot - I put that down on ice and it worked wonders!
RX-78 - I wouldn't advise having your first play turning off the DSC/DTC in anywhere else than a large open space! The car park when empty sounds ideal :wink: My experience in the snow is turning it off when stood still doesn't help mush as the wheels just spin and compact the snow if you are not careful with the gas/clutch.
Thanks PanwnSacrifice I do vaguely remember reading the manual to that effect but back in September I thought - "well, when did I last see enough snow to make me worry about riving? Another gadget from BMW I wont use" and skimmed over the pages. Silly me!
p.s. why is it I never have problem reversing in snow? Is it because its a rear wheel drive (i.e. will front wheel drive cars get stuck & wont be able to reverse)
I do vaguely remember reading the manual to that effect but back in September I thought - "well, when did I last see enough snow to make me worry about riving? Another gadget from BMW I wont use" and skimmed over the pages. Silly me!p.s. why is it I never have problem reversing in snow? Is it because its a rear wheel drive (i.e. will front wheel drive cars get stuck & wont be able to reverse)
Not sure on the reversing, I think the reversing may be coincidence... I seem to have issues in both directions, worse in reverse as I don't have a reverse 2nd / 3rd gear to start in. Maybe the gearing on reverse is a better than 1st forward?
As daveg said, you want to be careful not to let the wheels spin too much with DTC off. Unfortunately my local car park has barriers all over the place :x
As daveg said, you want to be careful not to let the wheels spin too much with DTC off. Unfortunately my local car park has barriers all over the place :x
I was wondering what to do with reverse if it wont bite - as you said there is no 2/3rd gear! As ours is on a bit of an incline (cant believe they couldn't flatten the car park before laying the asphalt) I've been parking it on the higher ground, hoping the gravity will help reverse back if I get stuck :lol:
daveg said:
PawnSacrifice said:
Thanks daveg and Pawnsacrifice. The snow was cleared gently but as I felt cautious, I left the lower layer on, which has, turned to ice.
I got this lovely big baby (you can tell I'm in love, right) only a month ago (FINALLY), so I haven't treated the roof myself. I had a search for other postings related to roof care / treatments and was impressed by the video posted about the AG. I'm trying to absorb the info from the posts and figure out which treatment I should go with. Interesting to read that application can be easier by sponge than brush. Just got niggling Qs about what sort of sponge to use to avoid linting, or if I should go with a cloth to apply. Anyhow, need to wait for the temp to improve and ice to melt before I work on the hood. Can't wait for the temperature to go up because I got amazing carbon reg plates to put on the car!!
Guys - I would just caution extreme care on your roof and what you clean and treat it with
Firstly the canvas (descriptive term only) is not designed to be waterproof at all. I've posted in previous threads the highly complex multiple layer structure and it's the underneath butyl layer that is waterproof.
Reposted here:
So the science (lifted from Z4 authors that know a bit about it):
The BMW roof is a multiple layer structure (I refer to the power roof as the manual is thinner and different structure) The outer is 3 layers of polyacrylonitrile fibers, polythene fibers and underneath a butyl rubber layer. Below this polyurethane film and then inside polyethersulfone. In simple terms the outer fibres (the bit you see) reduces noise, the middle is waterproof and inner insulation and soundproof.
Bottom line is that the outer layer is not supposed to be waterproof!!! - it's a permeable layer, cosmetic and needs the fibres to be both clean and remain flexible.
All you need to do with the top layer is remove dirt that gets into the fibres and then apply a protector to them. Think how quickly a rope wears out with dirt in it and you wouldn't varnish it to keep it looking good !!
I know little of the AG product, but the linked address from above makes most references to classic cars, restoring, etc. Some have even on this forum recommended using tent canvas sealer and showed wonderful beading photos and it's all wrong.
BMW sugest a 2 part cleaner and protector and Ragtopp market a similar. They are what I'd use. No brushes or scrubbing anything off. Lint is removed with a clothing lint remover. My roof is near 7 years old and looks as new, Doesn't bead and has only ever had Ragtopp on it.
As for ice I'd ideally put the car in a garage to melt it as the flexing of the roof with ice will damage it, but that aside brush the thick off and leave the rest. So long as the roof is not flexing unduly no harm.
Firstly the canvas (descriptive term only) is not designed to be waterproof at all. I've posted in previous threads the highly complex multiple layer structure and it's the underneath butyl layer that is waterproof.
Reposted here:
So the science (lifted from Z4 authors that know a bit about it):
The BMW roof is a multiple layer structure (I refer to the power roof as the manual is thinner and different structure) The outer is 3 layers of polyacrylonitrile fibers, polythene fibers and underneath a butyl rubber layer. Below this polyurethane film and then inside polyethersulfone. In simple terms the outer fibres (the bit you see) reduces noise, the middle is waterproof and inner insulation and soundproof.
Bottom line is that the outer layer is not supposed to be waterproof!!! - it's a permeable layer, cosmetic and needs the fibres to be both clean and remain flexible.
All you need to do with the top layer is remove dirt that gets into the fibres and then apply a protector to them. Think how quickly a rope wears out with dirt in it and you wouldn't varnish it to keep it looking good !!
I know little of the AG product, but the linked address from above makes most references to classic cars, restoring, etc. Some have even on this forum recommended using tent canvas sealer and showed wonderful beading photos and it's all wrong.
BMW sugest a 2 part cleaner and protector and Ragtopp market a similar. They are what I'd use. No brushes or scrubbing anything off. Lint is removed with a clothing lint remover. My roof is near 7 years old and looks as new, Doesn't bead and has only ever had Ragtopp on it.
As for ice I'd ideally put the car in a garage to melt it as the flexing of the roof with ice will damage it, but that aside brush the thick off and leave the rest. So long as the roof is not flexing unduly no harm.
Great post and info cj10jeeper. I've just had a look at the Raggtopp products and there is a useful video on their application:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpI4UtrABE8
All canvas roof protectors I've found do make the water bead (Raggtopp included). Although the outer layer of our roof doesn't need to be waterproof I presume beading in itself isn't a bad thing since it will help stop dirt and stains sticking?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpI4UtrABE8
All canvas roof protectors I've found do make the water bead (Raggtopp included). Although the outer layer of our roof doesn't need to be waterproof I presume beading in itself isn't a bad thing since it will help stop dirt and stains sticking?
daveg said:
Useful video. The only thing I would do different is to cover everything with sheets as removing overspray from the paint and glass is a lot harder than putting on and then later rolling up an old sheet or 2
I don't object to the beading per se and of course if the fibres are protected it will have the effect of causing water to run off, it's what's caused it to bead and how that matters. I exaggerate purely to illustrate, but you could lacquer the roof and it would bead amazingly, but each fibre would be bonded to others and of course as the roof opens it would fray the fibres and even crack.
Now of course if the roof is old, tired and faded you might want to consider some of these other products that 'restore' presumably by trying to dye the fibres.
I have "sports mode" grin.
The roads in Manchester are the best they've been for a while, nice and clear of snow on the main roads and they're mainly wet, very little ice. Temperature is hovering around 1.5 degrees C.
Currently running with fairly mid-range tyre pressures (about 20 psi) and a lot of weight in the boot (about 20+ heavy bricks, bag of coal and some other junk). So far, seem to be ok! Starting off in second gear and keeping momentum up when moving. Try not to let the tyres dig in too much, pressing the DSC button for a second to let the tyres spin up a little helps, but not turning it off completely.
Have also found sports mode can be useful, just to get better throttle control and have more feel of what the front wheels are doing.
I'll be driving to work tomorrow morning - that walking lark has lost it's novelty appeal!
The roads in Manchester are the best they've been for a while, nice and clear of snow on the main roads and they're mainly wet, very little ice. Temperature is hovering around 1.5 degrees C.
Currently running with fairly mid-range tyre pressures (about 20 psi) and a lot of weight in the boot (about 20+ heavy bricks, bag of coal and some other junk). So far, seem to be ok! Starting off in second gear and keeping momentum up when moving. Try not to let the tyres dig in too much, pressing the DSC button for a second to let the tyres spin up a little helps, but not turning it off completely.
Have also found sports mode can be useful, just to get better throttle control and have more feel of what the front wheels are doing.
I'll be driving to work tomorrow morning - that walking lark has lost it's novelty appeal!
My Zed has left the house this morning for the first time since last Monday! Albeit it took 6 attempts but got there in the end. I had a de-freezing and shovelling session on Saturday afternoon. I couldn't clear the road completely though hence why it still struggled.
I had 3 attempts at going up the road forwards, but to no avail, it kept getting stuck half way up even in 2nd and 3rd gear as the road is still icy. Tried twice to reverse up, got further to the top with less of a struggle but still couldn't manage it the whole way. So i ended up filling the boot with stuff to put weight over the back wheels and managed to reverse all the way up and onto the main road!
Albeit it took 6 attempts but got there in the end. I had a de-freezing and shovelling session on Saturday afternoon. I couldn't clear the road completely though hence why it still struggled.I had 3 attempts at going up the road forwards, but to no avail, it kept getting stuck half way up even in 2nd and 3rd gear as the road is still icy. Tried twice to reverse up, got further to the top with less of a struggle but still couldn't manage it the whole way. So i ended up filling the boot with stuff to put weight over the back wheels and managed to reverse all the way up and onto the main road!